Biosystems engineering students earn kudos for alginate-based granola wrappers

Rachel Day, Noor Fatima, Raziyeh Jokar and Vivian Usha, four Auburn biosystems engineering doctoral students, won second place in the Bioprocessing Startup Competition at the recent American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers annual meeting for their alginate-based food-safe wrappers.

The ASABE annual meeting is held to highlight agricultural engineering industry trends, showcase innovations and create networking opportunities. Each meeting features more than 1,000 presentations. This year's meeting was in Anaheim, California.

With the idea of increasing sustainability, the four designed an alternative wrapping for food to replicate the traditional unrecyclable aluminum-based films. Day said algae, known for its biocompatibility, low toxicity and low cost, has become one of the most popular wrapper replicas.

The alginate film will surround the aluminum and wash off in water, making the wrapper recyclable. By removing the salt and dissolving it, the algae is made into a solution, which will go through film casting and dry overnight. The algae film would be printed onto food wrapping instead of the typical metalized film.

Day was inspired to initiate the project after hearing from Nitesh Kasera, a postdoctoral fellow in biosystems engineering and ASABE’s 2023 bioprocessing startup winner.

“I came up with the idea in a class about a year before when Nitesh Kasera, who had won the competition last year with his team, suggested we all should try and help our groups with ideas,” Day said.

After developing a prototype film at the Auburn University Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts, the team applied for the ASABE competition, where only the top three competitors in the “Shark Tank”-style presentation advanced. They won second place overall for their kelp wrappers and are now looking forward to diving deeper into the project.

“We want to look more into it, characterize it, develop it and understand it better. That way, we can come up with a stronger and better idea,” Jokar said.

Day, Fatima, Jokar and Usha met as coworkers through Auburn’s biosystems engineering labs and, with the help of Sushil Adhikari, professor of biosystems engineering and director of the Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts Lab, and Hossein Jahromi, assistant professor of biosystems engineering, they were able to develop a prototype and business plan.

Each team member chose Auburn for its research opportunities and faculty expertise.

“I always view Auburn University as a land of opportunity, so through student involvement events and career development programs, I have been able to grow my network, research skills and leadership capacity,” Usha said.

Fatima said Auburn professors are not just educators, but motivators.

“They help in areas related to academia, and their encouragement is always there to lift you up and provide you with comprehensive support,” she said.